A little-studied brain region coordinated appetite and heat production when temperature fell

What the research found

Study (experimental, non-human). Yong Xu, Hailan Liu, and colleagues at the University of South Florida report in Neuron (doi 10.1016/j.neuron.2026.08.024; EurekAlert 25 September 2026). In non-human models they found a first known job for a little-studied hypothalamic spot, the dorsal posterior periventricular nucleus (dPVp). It became active when temperature fell and coordinated a rise in appetite with more heat production. Turning those neurons up increased the drive to eat and the energy burned, and the animals were less prone to gain weight, with better glucose regulation. A molecule in those neurons, KCNK2 (also called TREK-1), behaved as a cold sensor. The authors describe it as a laboratory target that might one day copy some metabolic effects of cold. That idea is not a product and was not tested in people. The release metadata lists the subject as people, while the text says non-human models; this note follows the text. Educational notes.

Evidence level: Human study. A study in people, but an association isn't proof of cause.

Read the original at University of South Florida / EurekAlert